With this post, I begin my review of the details in the
book.This will take a few posts.

The narrative – peddled both by the Soviets during and after
the Second World War, as well as by many in the west – is that the Red Army was
totally unprepared for war.Hitler
overwhelmed a clearly inferior Soviet army with his surprise attack on June 22,
1941.

The narrative is convenient for all parties except, perhaps,
the Germans.It ensures blame resides
solely on Germany for the attack (technically correct, but ignores several
inconvenient facts); it hides the intent behind Stalin’s plans for aggression;
it creates the myth that the Soviets were innocent victims of a tyrant –
Hitler; it aids the story of US support for Stalin and against Hitler.

The Soviet military buildup prior to the war is
ignored.The capability of Soviet
military equipment is greatly downplayed – instead we get peasants fighting
with brooms and picks.Suvorov sheds
light on these deceptions.Following are
some of the key points made by the author.

Tanks

If I had known that the Russians
really possessed such a number of tanks…I think I would not have started this
war.

Adolf Hitler,
August 4, 1941 (P. 50)

It wasn’t just the number of tanks, but also the capability
of the tanks.Suvorov examines both
points.

On January 1, 1939, the Red Army
was equipped with 21,000 battle-ready tanks.In 1939, Hitler started World War II with 3,195 tanks, the same number
that Soviet factories produced per year in peace time. (P.50)

Of course, in 1939 Stalin and Hitler were allies – of a
sort.What of the start of the war
between these two?

By June 22, 1941, Hitler had on the
eastern front 180 tanks in the under-six-ton category [out of 3,350 tanks of
all types].Not one of them was
amphibious and not one of them could compete with the Soviet light tanks.Stalin, on the other hand, had more than
4,000 tanks in this weight category.All
of them were amphibious. (P. 56)

Pay attention to the dates of some of these events – Stalin was
preparing for war up to a decade or more before Hitler attacked, at a time when
the Germans were held down at least to some extent by Versailles.

In 1933, the Red Army adopted the
T-28 tank.A variant of this model was
designed in 1937 – the T-28 PKh…. Tests showed that if necessary, all series of
T-28s could be converted to cross water barriers underwater, at a depth of up
to 4.5 meters and width of up to one kilometer with a stream speed of up to one
m/s (meter per second).Not a single
German, British, American, French, or Japanese tank from the 1930s could
compete with the T-28 in terms of weapons, armor, or engine power. (P. 41)

Amphibious; able to cross on or under water.

The Soviets had the T-37A – a light tank, first received by
the Red Army in 1933; 3.2 tons with a 40 horsepower engine.It could float – it could move in water at a
speed of 6 km/h, and on the road at speeds up to 40 km/h.Germany had no such tanks, nor did France and
England.At the time, the United States
had no tank troops at all – only by June 1941 did the US Army have something
under 400 tanks, obsolete in every way when compared to the Soviet tanks. (P.
53)

Soviet tanks successfully traversed mud and snow in Finland;
German tanks got stuck in the snow and mud of the Soviet Union.The difference was not the weather, but the
design. (P. 47)

In 1937, the Germans began producing the Pz-IVA, the most
powerful German tank in the first half of the war.Compared to the T-28, its armor was half as
thick, its engine half as power; it carried 2 machine guns to the Russian tank’s
four or five.Only in the gun was the
German tank roughly comparable. (P. 41)

On December 19, 1939, the Red Army
enlisted in its ranks the T-34.Following are German reviews of its performance.General Field Marshal von Kleist said: “Their
T-34 was the best in the world.”Major
General von Mellentin agreed: “We had nothing equal to the T-34.” (P.42)

The tank was of very advanced design:

The T-34 was the only tank in the
world created before the beginning of World War II that was not obsolete by its
end.(P.43)

The arrival of the T-34 surprised
both Stalin’s enemies and his allies.Leading British historian and military theorist B.H. Liddell Hart said: “None
of our tanks could compare with the T-34.”French General G. Bouche recounted: “The arrival of the T-34 tank,
significantly superior to German tanks, greatly surprised the Germans.” (P. 43)

The T-34 was a direct descendent of the Soviet made “BT.” The
“spiritual father” of the BT was George [John] Walter
Christie, the great American tank genius. (P. 50)

Two of Christie’s tanks were
purchased and shipped to the Soviet Union with fake documents, in which they
were listed as agricultural tractors.On
December 24, 1930, a ship carrying the “tractors” of Christie’s design left New
York. (P. 50)

In 1932, the BT-2 had a 400 horsepower engine.German tanks had engines of equal power only
in 1942.The BT-2 had a specific power
of 36.4 horsepower per ton of mass.The
German T-111J, beginning serial production in April 1941, had a specific power
of 13.9 horsepower per ton of mass. (P. 51)

These Soviet tanks were high speed tanks – once behind enemy
lines, they could quickly move to cities, bridges, factories, airports, and
communication hubs.They were made for
aggression, not defense.At the
beginning of World War II, the Soviets had 6,456 BT tanks – as many BT tanks as
all operational tanks in the rest of the world. Once the Germans invaded on June 22, 1941,
these tanks immediately became obsolete.(P. 52)

The German Panther tank, claimed by some experts to be
better than the T-34 in every respect, did not appear in battle until the
summer of 1943. (P. 44) Yet it was complicated, not as maneuverable, ran on a carbureted
as opposed to a diesel engine, and had other drawbacks when compared to the
T-34. (P.45)

In 1941, the Germans had no heavy tank – the Tiger only
existed in sketches.The Soviets,
beginning in 1933, began producing the T-35 heavy tank.Other heavy tanks were tested prior to the
start of the war – the KV-1, SMK, and T-100. (P. 46)

Airplanes

Stalin had a dive-bomber, the
Pe-2.Hitler had good airplanes, but the
Pe-2 surpassed any of them, in all the major characteristics.For example, the Pe-2 had a top speed of 75
km/h more than the best German bomber, the Ju-88, and 100 km/h more than the
He-111.Prior to June 22, 1941, 490 Pe-2
planes had been produced, more than all the Ju-88s positioned on the entire
Soviet-German front. (P. 69)

Stalin had three types of new
fighters – the MiG-3, the LaGG-3, and the Yak-1.Each of them was equal or superior to the
best German models.For example, the
MiG-3 had a speed of 628 km/h at an altitude of 7,000 meters.Hitler had nothing similar in 1941.On June 22, 1941, Hitler had 1,129 fighters
of all types on the Soviet-German front.Stalin had 1,309 of the newest MiG-3 model fighters alone.On top of this, Stalin also had 399 of the
newest YaK-1 models and 322 LaGG-3s. (P. 69)

On many metrics, Stalin had a more powerful and capable air
force on June 22, 1941 than did Hitler – more planes (even counting only the
newest models), more range, more payload, more speed.(P. 69) Stalin had heavy bombers, Hitler had
none. (P. 70)

According to the British pilot Alfred Price:
“The most powerful weapon among the series of fighters in the world in
September 1939 was possessed by the Russian I-16, which twice surpassed the
Bf-109e and almost three times the ‘Spitfire-1.’…Those who think that the
Russians were backward peasants before the Second World War and only moved
forward under the influence of using German expertise need to remember the
facts.” (P. 70)

Airborne Assault
Troops

Airborne assault troops are
designed for action in sudden, decisive offensive operations….The Soviet Union
was the first nation in the world in which airborne assault troops were created.They were created in 1930, before Hitler came
to power in Germany…. At the beginning of the war, the Soviet Union had more
than one million trained parachutists, according to the official Communist
Party newspaper, Pravda, on August
18, 1940.In light of declassified
documents it is clear that this was a deliberate underestimation of the real
number, which arguably was closer to two million parachutists. (P. 73)

The intent of the deception was to reduce concerns of a
Soviet attack.

Summary

One could suggest that these statistics are subject to what
we have come to learn of Soviet (and most) government propaganda – in other
words, an inflation in order to demonstrate prowess.Suvorov effectively argues the opposite –
Stalin had reasons to downplay his military buildup – at the time before 1939,
in order to not wake the world to his designs of revolution through war, and
during his alliance with Hitler in order to later surprise the Germans with
attack.

Additionally, many of the sources cited by Suvorov are post
the Soviet period, using official party and government documents.This would seem to at least minimize the
risks of party propaganda in the data.

It seems clear from Suvorov’s work that Stalin was preparing
for war almost throughout the entire period after he consolidated power in the
Soviet Union.It also seems clear that
the military capabilities of the Soviet Union, in both quantity and quality, at
the start of the war were far in advance of many of the other powers at the
time.

If the Red Army was so capable, so superior, how did it get
overrun so quickly by the Germans?While
only touched upon in this section, in a subsequent post I will expand further
on the purpose of this buildup – to strike first, and take advantage of the
western powers’ relative weakness after fighting each other.This made the Russians vulnerable to anyone
crazy enough to attack.

17 comments:

Suvorov’s Icebreaker is the most striking historical book I’ve read since Mao, the Untold Story.The two guys we really did not want to end up running socialist tyrannies in the largest and most populous countries did so.Of course, Suvorov’s book bears the illicit sub-plot of “How Hitler saved half of Europe”, but omelette, eggs. J Cuttance

Suvorov addresses this point extensively in the book, and I have touched on it in this post.

To summarize, many classified as "obsolete" were suited for an offensive purpose, but not defensive; others were of a class that the Germans had no comparable tanks; others, classified as obsolete, were new designs by otherwise qualified designers - for these, Suvorov raises internal Soviet political / propaganda reasons for the classification.

Here is a very interesting video of the Winter War with Finland. Notice how the Finns destroyed the Soviet Tanks by throwing Molotov Cocktails in the vents and taking blocks of timber and throwing them in the treads. The biggest tank battle of the war was The Battle of Kursk. I dont know the numbers off the top of my head, but the Germans setup a pinscher move allowing the Soviets to enter into a trap. Although the Germans beat the Soviets like 3 to 1 in kills, they still lost the battle due such superior tank numbers.

Thank you for the video. I will write a post on this Winter War; Suvorov's conclusion - rather than demonstrating the impotence of the Soviet army, it demonstrated that Stalin will persist no matter the cost. Also, it taught the Soviets much that was useful in defending Russia against the coming German invasion.

the biggest problem for the Soviets is that while they had elements that where exceptional, they were appallingly backward in others For tanks, there was no spare parts or recovery units to fix damaged vehicles, they didn't have radios,they were lead by Stalin's drinking buddies whose experience often amounted to raiding peasant villages on horseback in the Russian civil war. The German military was so much better organised and competent so basically they could overcome just about anything the Soviets could throw at them.

The Soviets won by sheer force of numbers, the massive size of the Soviet Union, and Hitler's stubborn insistence on "no retreat" from December 1941 onward. This allowed the Soviets to maneuver as they like while Hitler's armies were nailed in place by an order. This is the primary reason Army Group Center was destroyed by late 1944.

Also Hitler's infantry consisted of mostly either foot soldiers or ones on horseback. They weren't nearly mechanized enough to cross the vast distances (in as short a time as possible) necessary to conquer the Soviet Union. For example, when general Guderian had reached Smolensk he was ordered to "wait until the infantry to catch up". That took two entire weeks! That was very precious time wasted.

They simply didn't possess the manpower, fuel, nor had Hitler placed his industries on a wartime footing until 1943 (FAR too late) to fight a protracted war.

The only invader to successfully conquer Russia was Genghis Khan's grandson Batu (although the real military genius was Subedei). But of course we're probably talking about the greatest military fighting machine in history.

. The Russians won in the east because the Americans and the British sent them plenty of stuff and finally opened a second and a third and probably an air front after getting plenty of gear ready with trained. operators, forcing Hitler to send some of his best units west. Stalins idea of opening a front meant giving a civilian a a green coat and telling them to pick up a rifle on the way to met the Germans. Truely, lions led by donkeysWhat the Germans needed was a long range bomber force. but because of the Weaver's death the Wehrmacht was expected to cross those hundreds of miles to met the objectives

In 1941 T-34s weren’t encountered in large numbers until the Battle for Moscow.

Anyway the Soviet manufacturing process was so unreliable T-34s and other tanks could not be trusted to travel more than 100 miles without breaking down. In the later stages of the war the elite Red army tank units were equipped with up gunned Shermans as they had reliable engines.

Everyone knows about the Red officer purge of the 1930s. Less well known was the extensive purge of engineers, factory managers and scientists. Many of the people needed to run a war full scale economy gone.

During the war the Soviets could build war machines but relied upon Western aid utterly for logistics. No Western aid and the Red Army moving nowhere.

“to strike first, and take advantage of the western powers’ relative weakness after fighting each other.”

This just doesn’t matter any sense. How is this conclusion made?

In 1918 the British army was vastly superior to the 1914 version.

Likewise the US & British Empire militaries and war industries in 1945 were vastly superior to the 1939 versions.

Just to give you a courtesy heads up: I offered critical commentary on this post of yours after reading it today over at lewrockwell.com. You may find my commentary over at the Voluntaryist Reader joint blog here: A Hand to Mosquito and here: Away with Suvorov in case you, or your readers, wish to read it, or respond to it.

A simple question: was Stalin making preparations in some form or fashion to make war in the direction of the west? Was he making preparations to make war toward the east?

Were his preparations defensive or offensive?

After this, the debate about weaponry and training is not terribly important to me. After this, the only question is timing (I will accept that I don't know more than what Suvorov suggests) - and Stalin's willingness to throw bodies at the problem (the answer to this is obvious, isn't it?).

If Suvorov's hypothesis was instead that Stalin was planning on striking in the summer of 1942, when his military reform was actually going to be complete, then we would have something to talk about. Of course it would all be highly hypothetical since in truth there is no way of knowing what the Soviet dictator would have done that far into the future if the USSR was still at peace at that time.

However, since Suvorov's claim is that Stalin was planning to strike westwards in 1941, before his forces were remotely ready, it all falls flat and we really have nothing to talk about. Regardless of what sort of preparations Stalin was making, they were not going to be complete by the summer of 1941. German invasion on July 22nd did not pre-empt a similar Soviet strike on Germany and that's a fact.

"German invasion on July 22nd did not pre-empt a similar Soviet strike on Germany and that's a fact."

It is a fact? Please provide documentation for this fact. Your documentation cannot include your estimation that the logic you apply is also the logic Stalin applied. Do you know Stalin’s mind also?

As you claim this as fact, show the proof. Suvorov has researched his assertion well: in one of the most relevant chapters directly on this topic (Ch. 34, entitled “June 13, 1941”), Suvorov provides 57 footnotes – more footnotes than provided in any other chapter in the book.

Certainly, implications must be drawn from the various points raised by Suvorov – but this is often the case with alternative interpretations of history: 2 + 2 must be added to something that no official would admit, and may not even exist in a document.

I would bet that more Mongolians than Americans know about the fighting between Japan and the Soviet Union in 1939, and there aren't many Mongolians altogether. Just google it, and realize that Zhukov had a lot more radios. Far Siberia, out of sight, out of mind, not purged, had read the Germans. Stalin didn't know that Zhukov could fight them, he thought he knew how, they still lost more than twice as many people as any other country in the war. Hitler had planned for the Balkan campaign to be over in just a couple of weeks. But it took six, and put far more wear and tear on many tanks and other equipment than was envisioned. It pushed Barbarossa back, if it had not, Zhukov might not have stopped them at Moscow.taxes